The meeting of Glasgow’s top two usually tops the bill on the Scottish fixture card but Saturday’s meeting at Celtic Park holds particular intrigue.
Celtic under new manager Wilfried Nancy have lost five of their past seven games, three of which have come in the league.
That has taken the defending Premiership champions to five losses in the division at their halfway point.
The French boss leads his team for the first time against Rangers, who trail Celtic by three points.
Rangers, under Danny Rohl, have won eight and drawn two in the league – with the Ibrox side’s early season draws under Russell Martin meaning there is still a gap to Celtic and a six-point distance to leaders Hearts.
The German has led his relatively new team once against Celtic, losing to Martin O’Neill’s side 3-1 in extra time in November’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
What makes Saturday’s encounter particularly pressing is both teams’ need to stay as close to Hearts as possible. Any points dropped would allow Derek McInnes’ team the chance to open up a more handsome advantage.
And let’s not forget Motherwell and Hibernian, both within touching distance of the Glasgow duo, albeit having played a game more.
An intriguing derby beckons.
